68 HEMI Road Runner, Original Drive Line, Color, and Documentation, Rotisserie Correct Resto
THE STORY :
1968 HEMI Road Runner restored to #1 condition, 2 owners ( from friend of
family to me ). I bought the car in the mid 80's from the original owner
'Bill', a family friend. My father and Bill went to 'Cass Motor Sales' in
Detroit on May 3, 1968 and ordered the car on their lunch hour that day.
They went back at lunch time 3 weeks later to pick up the car on May 31st,
1968. Bill only lived about a mile from work and this kept the miles very
low, but he did take the car to Detroit Dragway on the weekends as any
young man at the time would do, and ran 13 second passes on red line tires
! I have the time slips in the History Folder I have made for the car. I
have all the orig paper work for the car including Bill's bank letters,
orig order sheet at the dealer, dealer purchase agreement, Loan extension
agreement, loan termination agreement, Dealer invoice, Registrations
through 71 when Bill blew something in the motor at Detroit Dragway and
couldn't afford to fix it, parking it. I also have old photos of the car
in it's first 3 years as Bill's car. I have an old picture from the 70's
of all the 1st place trophies the car won at Detroit Dragway. (( In 71',
Bill painted the car orange and converted it into an impressive looking
(for the time) drag car with a roll bar, a single racing seat, a dual 4 bbl
aluminum performance intake with Holley carbs and fancy new valve covers
from Mopar performance, as well as some fancy Ansen Mags and Goodyear
racing tires. He did thankfully keep the original stuff in the garage, and
all that stuff came with the car in the mid 80's to be stored with the car
until we finally got busy restoring it after 2000.)) The car was off the
street from 71' til we finished the car in 2006 !!
THE RESTORATION :
My brother and I went to great lengths and expense to restore this car back
to May 31st 1968, the day Bill picked the car up at the dealer. We used
original pieces or found NOS parts to restore the car to it's original
showroom condition. We used a photo Bill had taken of the motor in 1968 to
restore the engine bay to original. Date coded and or orig Exhaust manifolds, carbs, intake, fuel pump,
alternator, starter, orig stamped steel wheels, radiator, air cleaner lid
(beautiful orig to car), valve covers (orig to car), master cylinder,
EVERYTHING !
We called in HEMI racing legend DAVE KOFFEL for the engine build ( have
pics of him working on the motor, and Dyno of the engine) ! The car
is very streetable running 10:1 compression. 465 HP with 485 ft lbs of
torque.
The paint was matched from a digital scan of the two hood inserts that had
been removed and wrapped up since 1970 ! The color is an 'exact' match to
the orig shade of 1968 'Frost Blue'. My brother has been professionally
rotisserie restoring cars for over 30 years now, and he is a master metal
worker, he handled body and paint for the car, and it came out flawless and
correct in every way ! He took his time restoring all the parts for the
car to their original color, finishes, and textures, and reassembled the
car bolt by bolt, screw by screw, every piece inside and out of the car
receiving special attention. ***JACK SMITH the orig creator of the
'Roadrunner' signed the dash of this car !
RARITY :
In 1968, Hardtops were not offered until the end of the year, so there
weren't many around. Those who got an end of year Hardtop, also got the
Decor Package standard ! This is why the car has the beautiful two tone
interior, the chrome horn ring, and the aluminum trim panel on the rear of
the car. The color choice of Frost Blue and the Decor package are a very
appealing combination, the car really is stunning, pictures can't do it
justice ! The car also had the power disc brakes factory, vinyl top
option, sure grip rear end, and the 727 Torque Flight. There were only 61
HEMI Roadrunner Hardtops produced in 1968, and I know of no others with
this stunning color combo, and it's a late year Hardtop ! The car stops,
starts, and sounds better than the original, but looks exactly the same as
it did on May 31st, 1968 when my dad dropped Bill off to get his new car !
This car was off the road for 35 years !
The original 'BEEP BEEP' license plate put on at the dealer was still on
the car when we started the resto, still with the car.
Mike 248-249-0627 asking $ 115.K